PTO Today

Why should our parent group conduct a flu vaccination event at our school?

There are several good reasons for your parent group to conduct a flu vaccination event at your school!

• Flu caused children nationwide to miss an estimated 38 million school days in one year¹
• The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) now recommends all children through the age of 18 years be vaccinated against the flu²
• In order to help make flu vaccinations as readily available as possible, school-based vaccination programs have become more common
• PTO Today with MedImmune has chosen to bring Teach Flu a Lesson tools to your group to help conduct an in-school vaccination event, either as a beneficial community service that is added to an existing school family event, or a standalone event
• It's a great way to educate parents that immunization is safe, and the right thing to do – and a health issue that your group can support by helping to make it easy for parents to have their eligible children immunized
• It provides families with a convenient option to help protect their eligible children from the flu
• The toolkit is free for your parent group, offering benefits for your group and your school community with relatively little effort
• A trained healthcare professional administers the vaccination, collects payment, and handles insurance issues
• FluMist^® (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal), an option that your group can choose to make available at your school's event, is a gentle nasal mist that is sprayed into the nose. Please see Important Safety and Eligibility Information below

Does Teach Flu a Lesson have to be held as a standalone event at our school?

No. In fact, we recommend that you hold this event in conjunction with another larger school family event. If you do choose to hold it as a standalone event, you might want to consider partnering with other groups in your area to create a larger community wide event.

When is the best time to hold this event at our school?

According to the CDC, flu outbreaks can happen as early as October². FluMist is expected to be available before the typical vaccination period, so the best period of time to hold a vaccination event at your school is September through December.

Does our group have to coordinate the handling or administration of the vaccine?

No, your parent group will not be responsible for the handling or administration of the influenza vaccine. A toll free number is included in your planning kit. When you call this number, you'll be provided with a list of some of the trained third party health care professionals who may be available to administer vaccines in your area. (Note: This will not be a comprehensive listing of all the healthcare professionals that may administer vaccines in your area.) This health care professional or one of your own choosing (i.e. the school nurse, etc.) will coordinate with your group and be responsible for the administration of the vaccine. (Please note that FluMist is given as a gentle nasal mist – a quick spray in each nostril.)

Does the third party administrator assume liability for the administration of the vaccine, coordinate any collection of monies, deal with health insurance, etc?

If you have any questions or concerns about liability, or the collection of monies or insurance, please talk to your chosen vaccinator (the trained third party administrator, or one of your own choosing). The vaccinator will be available to advise your parent group and answer any questions you may have.

Yes, we encourage you to order the free planning kit as we’ve included a “program overview for school administrators”. This overview sheet explains the Teach Flu a Lesson event details to school administrators – making it easy for your school administration to approve the event quickly.

Note: MedImmune will not provide vaccine or financial support for school vaccination initiatives.